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The Wu-Tang Clan is about to form like Voltron. Staten Island’s finest have announced a residency in Las Vegas.
Vulture is reporting that the legendary Hip-Hop group will be taking their talents to Sin City. On Dec. 12, the New York Times announced that the residency will kick off Super Bowl weekend on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The Clan will return to the town March 22 and March 23 during the height of NCAA Division I basketball tournament. In an exclusive statement to the periodical, RZA expressed his enthusiasm. “I’m in that spirit of loving where there’s a hub of art and then loving that I — in my talent and the Wu-Tang brothers — can add to that hub and of course eventually invite more hip-hop artists to come and play in this sandbox with us,” he said.
2023 found the Wu-Tang Clan back on the road with the second run of the N.Y. State of Mind Tour. The nine man team brought their unique sound overseas to New Zealand, Europe, Canada and 14 cities throughout the United States. The pre-sale for the aforementioned dates begins Dec. 13 at 12 p.m. PST, with the pre-sale code: CREAM. Tickets officially go on sale at 10 a.m. PST on Friday, Dec. 15. You can purchase tickets for the Las Vegas residency here.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers got a lump of coal in their stocking this week. The band announced on Tuesday (Dec. 5) that they’ve been forced to drop off the lineup for the 2023 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show due to a medical issue. “It is with deep regret that we will not be able […]
Daddy Yankee officially held his farewell concert on Sunday (Dec.3), where he not only performed his timeless reggaeton tracks, but also delivered a life-changing message to his fans.
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The series of four back-to-back shows, dubbed “La Meta” (The Goal), kicked off Nov. 30 at The Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan and included a global livestream of Sunday’s concert with the purchase of a $20 ticket.
Fans back home and those connected virtually not only enjoyed a live musical journey through Yankee’s 30-year career, but also observed his vulnerability and transparency when the singer opened up about embracing his faith and religious beliefs.
“This is the most important day of my life and I want to share it because it’s not easier living a life with success than a life with purpose,” the star born Raymond Ayala said during his address from the stage.
“For many years I’ve tried filling a void in my life that no one could fill. I tried finding a purpose, on many occasions it seemed as if I was happy but something was missing for me to feel complete. I have to confess that those days are over and someone was able to fill that void that I felt for a lot of time. I realized that for everyone I was someone but I was no one without him,” he continued. “Throughout the years I was able to travel the world, win many awards, applaud and praise but I realized something that’s in the Bible: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
The global artist, who spearheaded the reggaeton movement with his 2004 breakthrough hit “Gasolina,” proudly expressed that God lives in him and he will live for him.
“A chapter has ended but a new one will begin,” he noted. “All the tools that I have in my power, like music, social media, platforms, a microphone, everything that God has given me is now for his kingdom. Thank you, Puerto Rico, and I hope you walk with me in this new beginning and I hope you remember something very important: Don’t follow any person. I am human. To all the people who follow me, follow Jesus Christ, he’s the way, the truth, and the life.”
“La Meta” was part of his retirement tour La Última Vuelta that kicked off last year and landed at No. 13 on the Top 40 Tours of 2022 with a total gross of over $125 million, according to Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts. Yankee now joins a wave of reggaeton stars who have opened up about their faith including Farruko, Hector “El Father” Delgado, El General, and more.
Listen to his full speech in Spanish below:
It’s finally here! After weeks of waiting, two premieres (one in L.A. and one in London), and three trailers, Beyoncé‘s highly-anticipated concert documentary, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, has hit theatres at long last.
The film provides a rare peek into Beyoncé’s behind-the-scenes process, namely how she runs her ship as the Mother of the House of Renaissance. Over nearly three hours, the documentary treats fans to pristine footage of several nights of the superstar’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour. Seamless edits showcase the endless variety of haute couture costumes the “Break My Soul” singer flaunted across her 56 sold-out shows, and intimate black-and-white scenes present the Beyoncé her family sees offstage.
Written, directed and produced by Beyoncé herself, the film — which is evenly split between the concert (just about every track made the final cut) and behind-the-scenes footage — is as much about the enigmatic artistic genius as it is about community — the various intersecting communities that crafted the album and tour, enjoyed the music at the concerts, and inspired the throughlines of Black queer liberation that course through Queen Bey’s most recent musical era.
Nearly all of the tour’s special guests — Blue Ivy Carter, Megan Thee Stallion, Kendrick Lamar, Diana Ross, among them — make cameos in the film, alongside Beyoncé’s family (including JAY-Z, Ms. Tina Knowles and twins Rumi and Sir Carter!) and former Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson.
Even though we’re over a year removed from the release of Renaissance, it’s a body of work that continues to resonant deeply. The album ranked atop the 2023 Year-End Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and the tour helped Beyoncé earn the biggest touring year in Billboard Boxscore history ($570.5 million), making her No. 1 on the Year-End Billboard Boxscore Top Tours chart.
Clearly, the Renaissance is still in full swing, and now we can all see how Beyoncé got us here. Without further ado, here are seven of the best moments of Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
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After a few embattled show experiences, Ms. Lauryn Hill is pausing her anniversary concert tour due to vocal strain and her desire to avoid any lasting effects of the steroid prednisone.
The Grammy-winner took to Instagram to share the news with fans, writing, “As many of you may know, I’ve been battling serious vocal strain for the past month. I made it through each show by taking prescribed prednisone, but this can be detrimental to the body when taken in large amounts over long periods of time,” Hill said. “In order to prevent any long-term negative [effects] on my voice and my body, I need to take time off to allow for real vocal recovery so that I can discontinue the medication completely.”
The tour has hit many major U.S. cities including New York and Los Angeles. The tour was supposed to run through the middle of December.
Hill began her post saying, “I’d like to start this off by saying how much I’ve enjoyed being on the road, and how much I appreciate all of the fans who have come out to celebrate this incredible milestone anniversary and history making reunion with us. Being able to tour this album to sold out crowds after 25 years has been an emotional experience! I’ve loved sharing the stage again with Wyclef and Pras. The Return of the Fugees has been powerful and amazing—those who’ve witnessed it can testify,” Hill said. “The tour itself reminds us the artists, and the audiences alike of earlier, perhaps less complicated times when ‘It could all be so simple…’ or ‘Ready Or Not, here I come!’ were on repeat on the airwaves. Simply put, classic. Classic music, classic performances with audiences who love those classics has been nothing but…wait for it…EPIC. (I almost said classic again!)
When the tour picks back up there are expected to be new tour stops added including some in Europe.
Released in 1998, the singer’s legendary album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill achieved historic commercial success. The now-classic album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 422,624 copies in its first week and eventually becoming certified 8x Platinum in the United States by the RIAA, according to BET. The album won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
Miseducation remains Hill’s only solo studio album.
Beyonce certainly knows how to make an entrance.
The 42-year-old superstar singer was a vision of beauty with long silver hair and a stunning Versace dress at the premiere of Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce, held Saturday evening (Nov. 25) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The star-studded event featured a chrome carpet graced by Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett, along with other celebs like Janelle Monáe, Lizzo, Chloe X Halle‘s Chloe and Halle Bailey, Gabrielle Union, Lupita Nyong’o, Tyler Perry and Kris Jenner, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bey’s parents Tina and Mathew Knowles were also in attendance.
Beyonce didn’t formally walk the carpet, but snuck in and out of the screening with her family, THR reports.
The 32-time Grammy winner wrote, executive produced, as well as co-directed the concert documentary, which chronicles her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour.
Director Ava DuVernay, who attended the L.A. premiere, shared a lengthy statement about the concert film on her Instagram Story following the event.
“My favorite part was a section that made me so emotional I felt as if she was speaking for me,” DuVernay wrote. “She talks candidly about having to fight to be heard as a Black woman leader working at a high level of difficulty. Having to endure being second guessed often and gaslit constantly. We actually see moments of this happening to her on camera. People directly doubting, shortchanging, gaslighting her. I haven’t seen that described in a film before. Something that I’ve experienced far too often, unfolding on the big screen, in detail, as proof, as evidence that this is real and not in our heads.”
Beyonce’s longtime publicist Yvette Noel-Schure also shared a photo of her client’s gorgeous look at the premiere.
“There is so much I want to say about RENAISSANCE: A Film by Beyoncé, after the Los Angeles premiere, but nothing could top what @ava has said,” Noel-Schure wrote on Instagram, referencing DuVernay’s post. “You are about to explore the most creative mind on Mother Earth. And she looks Foine. Foine. Foine.”
Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce opens worldwide on Friday (Dec. 1). Following the L.A. premiere, Renaissance will have another major screening in London on Thursday (Nov. 30).
The Weeknd once sang “Metro Boomin turn this ho into a mosh pit” on their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Heartless,” but last Thursday (Oct. 26), he turned Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre into an entire hip-hop symphony during his Red Bull Symphonic concert. His one-night-only experience marked the West Coast premiere of the Red […]
More than halfway through Carlos Vives’ sold-out show at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday (Oct. 28), the very loud audience — which had been on its feet for nearly an hour — suddenly got even louder during the Colombian singer’s rendition of “La Bicicleta,” his 2017 hit with fellow Colombian star Shakira.
Vives, clearly thinking it was in response to his urging crowd participation during a musical interlude, moved forward, waving his arms. With his back turned to the giant screen on the back of the stage, he missed the real cause of the commotion, as Shakira stepped on stage from the back entrance and started singing a part of the chorus. Still unaware, Vives turned toward his band, and did a visible double-take when he saw Shakira inches from him.
His first reaction was to run away from Shakira. Then he ran toward her. She pulled his arm. They hugged. They danced as a couple Colombian style. “He didn’t expect it!” a delighted Shakira told the crowd. “You didn’t expect it!” she told Vives.
He didn’t. The truly surprise appearance had been hatched just the night before between Shakira and tour promoter Loud and Live, and kept a total secret save for a handful of people in production. Shakira, now living in Miami, was approached to see if she might be interested in singing with Vives during his important Miami stop. Yes, but keeping it a secret. And so it was.
With no rehearsal or soundcheck, Shakira arrived to the Kaseya when Vives was already well into his set, posting live video on her Instagram feed where she delightedly told fans what she was going to do. Dressed in sparkly loose jeans and a crop top, she sang with Vives, then stayed on stage for an extra song as he serenaded her.
“Surprising my brother Carlos Vives onstage tonight,” Shakira wrote on her Instagram, to which Vives replied a few hours later: “Shak. I can retire. Now, chao. I leave happy. Nothing tops this. You made me the happiest man. I love you. WHAT A SURPRISE.
It was an exquisite moment for an exquisite night. Vives’ show in Miami, home to a huge Colombian diaspora and where he sometimes has spent months at a time, was as expected, a sell-out. The show, part of his El Tour de los 30, which celebrates the 30 years since the release of his turning-point album Clásicos de la Provincia, has included a free, massive show in Madrid’s Puerta de Alacalá and will culminate with a show in Colombia’s Estadio El Campín in December.
Watch the Shakira-Vives moment on Instagram below.
“S–t’s so beautiful,” Metro Boomin beamed during his Red Bull Symphonic concert at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre Thursday night (Oct. 26).
His one-night-only experience marks the West Coast premiere of the Red Bull Symphonic, which showcases a collaboration between a modern artist and a classical musical director, together with a full-scale symphonic orchestra. It made its U.S. debut last November, when Rick Ross teamed up with conductor Maestro Jason Rodgers and the 50-piece, all-Black Orchestra Noir in Atlanta.
But this time around, the hip-hop super-producer partnered with conductor Anthony Parnther (Encanto, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Creed II, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and the Symphonic Orchestra to reimagine many of his biggest hits, including Future‘s “Mask Off,” Migos and Lil Uzi Vert‘s “Bad and Boujee,” Post Malone and Quavo‘s “Congratulations,” Kanye West‘s “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1” and his own “Creepin’” alongside The Weeknd and 21 Savage. Considering his star-studded list of collaborators, Metro treated attendees with surprise guests John Legend, Swae Lee, Nav and Roisee to perform songs from his 2022 Billboard 200-topping album Heroes & Villains, and the 2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack he executive produced.
It’s rare to see Metro’s DJ controller not be the main instrument of his show, but the 45-piece ensemble elevated the cinematic, orchestral elements embedded in his production’s DNA. And while the Symphonic Orchestra adhered to every one of Parnther’s precise, nimble hand gestures, the black tux-clad hitmaker still ran the show from behind the booth (and sometimes from standing on top of it), his white-gloved hands waving through the air. Metro’s recent ascent into rarefied air as a producer-turned-superstar artist has allowed him to continue headlining major gigs and building out his own sonic, heroic world on new stages across the world.
“Tonight is a celebration. We celebrate music, we celebrate culture, we celebrate y’all for listening to this music and making it what it is,” Metro told his devout fans.
Check out Billboard‘s five biggest highlights from Metro Boomin’s Red Bull Symphonic concert below.
Metro’s Biggest Hits Sounded Larger Than Life
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One of the culture’s most beloved outings is set to come back. J. Cole has announced that the Dreamville Music Festival is returning next year.
Digital Music News is reporting that the Fayetteville, North Carolina, talent and his team are bringing back the popular concert series. On Monday, (Oct. 23), the official Dreamville Records Instagram made the announcement. The caption read, “Raleigh, NC 🌻 April 6 & 7, 2024 🌻 Be the first to get your presale password by signing up for fest info at dreamville.com.”
President Adam Roy expressed his enthusiasm in a formal statement. “Dreamville Fest 2023 was a major cultural moment for the spring festival season,” the executive said. We had amazing performances from some of the biggest artists of my generation, and we plan to bring that same energy in 2024!”
The two-day event will be returning to Dorothea Dix Park, Raleigh’s largest public park. Ticket holders will be treated to performances and activities including carnival rides, food trucks, art installations, branded experiences and more.
J. Cole and Usher headlined the 2023 edition. You can sign up for more information on the 2024 Dreamville Music Festival here.